Biographical Note:

Charles Henry Tuttle (1879-1971) was a prominent New York City lawyer, civic leader and public servant. After the early death of his father he grew up under the care of his mother and grandfather; he studied at Trinity School, Columbia College, and Columbia Law, earning his J.D. in 1902. From 1902 to 1927, he worked in New York City as a lawyer in private practice at the firm of Davies, Stone and Auerbach.

In 1927, President Calvin Coolidge appointed Tuttle as United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York. During the following three years he prosecuted a number of high-profile cases and earned a reputation as an anticorruption crusader. He won the convictions of numerous corrupt officials, including Federal Judge Francis A. Winslow, Kings County Judge W. Bernard Vause, and Albany political boss Daniel P. O’Connell, whom he sent to jail in New York City on a contempt-of-court charge. He led an investigation into price gouging by Broadway ticket agencies, prosecuted crooked bail bondsmen and the Moscahlades and Dachis Brothers arson rings, and worked to reform the Southern District’s grand jury system; when the British cruise ship Vestris went down with American tourists still on board, his investigation of the case led to major reforms in international maritime safety law.

Tuttle’s success as U.S. Attorney made him a viable candidate for political office. In September 1930, amid increasing speculation that the state Republican convention would nominate him to run against incumbent Democrat Franklin Delano Roosevelt in the 1930 gubernatorial election, he resigned his post and released a formal statement of his position on the most pressing issue of the campaign: although personally “dry,” he favored the repeal of Prohibition and believed that individual states should be free to regulate alcohol as they saw fit. Following his nomination, he spent the next several weeks campaigning throughout the state. Although Tuttle had hoped to campaign on an anticorruption platform, his opposition to federal prohibition drew fierce criticism from rural temperance voters who felt that the Republican Party had sold them out; on Election Day, he lost to Roosevelt by what was then the largest plurality in New York State history. Following his defeat, Tuttle returned to private practice and joined the firm of Breed, Abbott and Morgan; he remained with the firm, for many years as senior partner and eventually as counsel emeritus, until his death in 1971.

In addition to practicing law, Tuttle devoted much time and energy to the civic and religious life of New York City. He served for over fifty years (1913-1966) on the board of trustees of City College, chaired the local Selective Service Board during World War I, and helped draft New York State’s law against discriminatory hiring. A devout Episcopalian, he worked to further the causes of religious education and ecumenical unity, holding various offices in the Greater New York Federation of Churches and working with Catholic and Jewish leaders on interfaith issues.

Scope and Content Note:

These papers consist chiefly of correspondence dated 1927-1930, covering Tuttle’s service as U.S. Attorney and his unsuccessful run for Governor of New York State. They contain an extensive amount of material from the years 1927, 1928 and 1930, but only a few items from 1929.

General correspondence is organized chronologically by year, then alphabetically by correspondent. (The original order of the papers has been followed regarding whether a given letter is alphabetized by the name of the institution or the name of the individual correspondent.) This correspondence includes letters sent and received by Tuttle in his official capacity as a U.S. Attorney as well as correspondence related to his various charitable activities. Official correspondence includes routine inquiries and information requests, correspondence regarding ongoing cases, letters of approbation and disapproval from members of the public, and correspondence with job seekers interested in civil service positions at the U.S. Attorney’s Office. (Correspondence relating to applicants for attorney positions was maintained as a separate subject file; see below.)

In addition to the alphabetized general correspondence, numerous individual subject files regarding Tuttle’s work, charitable work and social engagements have been preserved. These include an extensive correspondence documenting Tuttle’s active career as a public speaker; correspondence to and from applicants seeking to join the legal staff of the U.S. Attorney’s office in New York City; and correspondence relating to Tuttle’s investigation of price gouging related to Broadway theater tickets, the case which first made his reputation as U.S. Attorney. (This latter series contains correspondence from several Broadway notables, including a letter from Edward Albee and several telegrams from Florenz Ziegfeld of the Ziegfeld Follies.) Also included are two folders of letters to and from Emory Buckner, Tuttle’s predecessor as U.S. Attorney in the New York City office. (These may come from the “high file of papers,” left for him to deal with by his departing predecessor, to which Tuttle alludes in his autobiography.)

A separate series documents Tuttle’s gubernatorial campaign, including internal correspondence, drafts of speeches, and numerous letters from members of the public. It includes correspondence with members of the State Republican Committee and with Republican Party officials at the county and municipal level. Letters from the public deal mainly with Tuttle’s advocacy of Prohibition repeal; many correspondents, particularly in rural upstate counties, accused him of betrayal, while others congratulated him for his stand against a controversial law.

The papers also include Tuttle’s appointment diaries from 1931 to 1970, which document his day-to-day schedule of professional, charitable and social engagements, and a selection of photographs and memorabilia (including an extensive collection of honorary awards and diplomas) from throughout his life.

Box and Folder/Volume List:

Box

Folder/ Volume

Description

Correspondence 1927-1930

1

1

Correspondence – 1927 – A

1

2

Correspondence – 1927 – Ba-Bf

1

3

Correspondence – 1927 – Bg-Bz

1

4

Correspondence – 1927 – Ca-Cl

1

5

Correspondence – 1927 – Cm-Cz

1

6

Correspondence – 1927 – D

1

7

Correspondence – 1927 – E

1

8

Correspondence – 1927 – F

1

9

Correspondence – 1927 – G

1

10

Correspondence – 1927 – Ha-Hl

1

11

Correspondence – 1927 – Hm-Hz

2

1

Correspondence – 1927 – I-J

2

2

Correspondence – 1927 – K

2

3

Correspondence – 1927 – L

2

4

Correspondence – 1927 – Ma-Mf

2

5

Correspondence – 1927 – Mg-Mz

2

6

Correspondence – 1927 – N

2

7

Correspondence – 1927 – O

2

8

Correspondence – 1927 – P

2

9

Correspondence – 1927 – Q

2

10

Correspondence – 1927 – R

2

11

Correspondence – 1927 – Sa-Sr

2

12

Correspondence – 1927 – Ss-Sz

3

1

Correspondence – 1927 – T

3

2

Correspondence – 1927 – U

3

3

Correspondence – 1927 – V

3

4

Correspondence – 1927 – Wa-Wf

3

5

Correspondence – 1927 – Wg-Z

3

6

Correspondence – 1928 – A

3

7

Correspondence – 1928 – Ba-Bl

3

8

Correspondence – 1928 – Bm-Bz

3

9

Correspondence – 1928 – Ca-Cl

3

10

Correspondence – 1928 – Cm-Cz

4

1

Correspondence – 1928 – D

4

2

Correspondence – 1928 – E

4

3

Correspondence – 1928 – F-G

4

4

Correspondence – 1928 – Ha-Hl

4

5

Correspondence – 1928 – Hm-Hz

4

6

Correspondence – 1928 – I-L

4

7

Correspondence – 1928 – M

4

8

Correspondence – 1928 – N-Q

4

9

Correspondence – 1928 – R

4

10

Correspondence – 1928 – Sa-Sl

5

1

Correspondence – 1928 – Sm-Sr

5

2

Correspondence – 1928 – Ss-Sz

5

3

Correspondence – 1928 – Ta-Tf

5

4

Correspondence – 1928 – Tg-Tz

5

5

Correspondence – 1928 – U-V

5

6

Correspondence – 1928 – Wa-Wf

5

7

Correspondence – 1928 – Wg-Wz

5

8

Correspondence – 1928 – X-Z

5

9

Correspondence – 1929

5

10

Correspondence – 1930 – Aa-Al

5

11

Correspondence – 1930 – Am-Az

5

12

Correspondence – 1930 – Ba-Bc

6

1

Correspondence – 1930 – Bd-Bf

6

2

Correspondence – 1930 – Bg-Bl

6

3

Correspondence – 1930 – Bm-Bo

6

4

Correspondence – 1930 – Bp-Br

6

5

Correspondence – 1930 – Bs-Bz

6

6

Correspondence – 1930 – Ca-Cf

6

7

Correspondence – 1930 – Cg-Cl

6

8

Correspondence – 1930 – Cm-Cr

6

9

Correspondence – 1930 – Cs-Cz

6

10

Correspondence – 1930 – Da-Df

6

11

Correspondence – 1930 – Dg-Dz

7

1

Correspondence – 1930 – Ea-Ef

7

2

Correspondence – 1930 – El-Ez

7

3

Correspondence – 1930 – Fa-Ff

7

4

Correspondence – 1930 – Fg-Fl

7

5

Correspondence – 1930 – Fm-Fz

7

6

Correspondence – 1930 – Ga-Gl

7

7

Correspondence – 1930 – Gm-Gz

7

8

Correspondence – 1930 – Ha-Hf

7

9

Correspondence – 1930 – Hg-Hz

7

10

Correspondence – 1930 – I

7

11

Correspondence – 1930 – J

8

1

Correspondence – 1930 – Ka-Kl

8

2

Correspondence – 1930 – Km-Kz

8

3

Correspondence – 1930 – L

8

4

Correspondence – 1930 – Ma-Mf

8

5

Correspondence – 1930 – Mg-Mz

8

6

Correspondence – 1930 – N

8

7

Correspondence – 1930 – O

8

8

Correspondence – 1930 – Pa-Pf

8

9

Correspondence – 1930 – Pg-Pz

8

10

Correspondence – 1930 – Q

8

11

Correspondence – 1930 – Ra-Rf

9

1

Correspondence – 1930 – Rg-Rl

9

2

Correspondence – 1930 – Rm-Rz

9

3

Correspondence – 1930 – Sa-Sf

9

4

Correspondence – 1930 – Sg-Sr

9

5

Correspondence – 1930 – Ss-Sz

9

6

Correspondence – 1930 – T

9

7

Correspondence – 1930 – U

9

8

Correspondence – 1930 – V

9

9

Correspondence – 1930 – Wa-Wc

10

1

Correspondence – 1930 – Wd-Wf

10

2

Correspondence – 1930 – Wg-Wl

10

3

Correspondence – 1930 – Wm-Wz

10

4

Correspondence – 1930 – X-Z

10

5

Correspondence – 1930 – Unidentified

Correspondence 1927-1930 – Subject Files

10

6

Correspondence – Attorney General John G. Sargent – 1928

10

7

Correspondence – City College of New York – 1927

10

8

Correspondence – City College of New York – 1928

10

9

Correspondence – Dr. S. Parkes Cadman’s Radio Committee – 1928-1929

10

10

Correspondence – First Anniversary Celebration of Appointment as U.S. Attorney (25 April 1928)

10

11

Correspondence – Greater New York Federation of Churches – January 1927-June 1927

10

12

Correspondence – Greater New York Federation of Churches – July 1927-December 1927